Being grateful helps patients recover from heart failure, a new study finds. On top, two previous studies have found that optimistic people have healthier hearts and that a strong sense of purpose may lower heart disease risk. In the new study, Dr Paul J. Mills and colleagues studied how gratefulness affected people suffering from asymptomatic heart failure. He said: “We found that more gratitude in these patients was associated with better mood, better sleep, less fatigue and lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers related to cardiac health.”

The study looked at people who had developed a heart problem — like having a heart attack — but who did not have other typical symptoms (shortness of breath or fatigue). The researchers wanted to see what could help them avoid getting worse. Once heart disease develops symptoms, the chances of death are five times higher. Dr Mills said: Dr Mills explained the results:
Learn to Forgive Yourself No Matter What. One of the greatest, most unproductive and destructive mind traps many of us face is self-blame.

It’s as if the brain doesn’t know what to do with the uncomfortable feeling that’s there and it projects it inward. I’ve never seen a single example where self-blame is constructive. We all make mistakes in life, some greater than others. But there is a simple truth in life that is worth understanding, we all do the best we can with what we know in any given time. It could never be any other way. There’s a simple thing to practice that can bring us back to our senses with a bit more self-compassion. Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it.

No matter what you’ve done, it doesn’t serve you or anyone else to stew in self-blame. In Uncovering Happiness I share a very personal story where in my twenties I was incredibly destructive to my mind and body. This kept me stuck in a shame cycle. Consider what you might be blaming yourself for. Warmly, Elisha Goldstein. The Miracle of the Self-Compassion Habit. By Leo Babauta Let’s hypothesize that there’s a substance that’s been irritating you and causing problems in all areas of your life: it causes you to be unhappy, to be stressed, to procrastinate, to be distracted, to be angry with people, to be dissatisfied with your life, to be overweight and unhealthy, to not exercise or eat healthy, and much more.

Horrible substance, right? Now imagine there were a salve that could ease the bad effects of this substance, and make all those other areas better. The substance is real: it’s your suffering. We all suffer, in small and large ways, every day. The salve is also real: it’s self-compassion.
How to Change Your Life in Just 2 Minutes a Day: 10 Quick Habits. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”Lao Tzu “The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult.”Madame Marie du Deffand Making a positive change in your life does not have to be about making a huge leap.

But I believe that belief is one of those things that hold people back from improving their life and world. A simpler way that more often results in actual action being taken and new habits being established – in my life at least – is to take smaller steps but many of them. So today I’d like to share 10 quick habits that can help you to change your life in just 2 minutes or so a day. To remember to actually do one of the things below each day I recommend writing down a simple reminder. If you like and if possible, expand on the small habit after a week or two and do it for just a few more minutes a day. 1. I use this one at least one day every week.

The thing is: getting started is pretty much always the hardest part. 2. 3.